Thursday, July 07, 2011

Charlie Adam is poised to complete his move to Liverpool from Blackpool after passing a medical with the Anfield outfit.

The Reds confirmed on Wednesday that they had finally agreed an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £9million, with the Championship club for the midfielder.

Scotland international Adam has been a long-term target for the Merseyside giants who tried and failed to secure his services during the January transfer window.

Blackpool's relegation from the Premier League on the final day of the season made his anticipated departure from Bloomfield Road more likely and the 25-year-old was always keen to remain in the top-flight.

Adam now only needs to agree personal terms with Kenny Dalglish's men to seal his switch to the five-time European champions.

The midfielder will become Liverpool's second signing of the summer following the £20million arrival of Jordan Henderson from Sunderland.

There have been rumblings of discontent from some supporters after seeing the club miss out on Connor Wickham to Sunderland and Phil Jones to Manchester United.

But Dalglish clearly has further targets in mind and the Reds saw their £15million approach for Aston Villa winger Stewart Downing knocked back on Tuesday evening.

Roma goalkeeper Alexander Doni is very close to completing his move to Liverpool, according to the player's agent.

The two clubs had reached an agreement over the transfer last month only for the Brazilian to turn down a contract offer that would have seen him take a significant pay cut.

However, the move seems to be back on with the player possibly signing before the weekend.

Doni's agent, Ovidio Colucci, told Press Association Sport: "In the next 36 hours we will know something definite. Liverpool is interested in Doni and there is the agreement between the two clubs and with the player. We just have to ratify certain details with Roma."

Colucci continued: "If the deal is completed, Doni will join Liverpool on a free transfer and will sign a two-year contract. Doni is very happy with the chance to go to Liverpool and play in the Premier League."

The Brazilian joined Roma in 2005 but struggled to find regular football recently, and he will be seen as a back-up goalkeeper at Anfield, with first choice Pepe Reina committed to Liverpool.

Paris Saint-Germain has offered Liverpool the opportunity to sign striker Guillaume Hoarau, it has been claimed.

According to The Guardian - who source reports in France - PSG are prepared to offload the France international, and have touted him out to the Merseyside club.

Hoarau scored 11 times for PSG last season and, with the acquisition of Kevin Gameiro expected to be followed by a marquee signing, the 27-year-old will see himself slide down the pecking order at the Parc des Princes.

Liverpool has been linked with Hoarau in the past but, whether or not they retain a genuine interest in the Frenchman remains to be seen.

Hoarau's goal return hardly makes him an outstanding candidate to move to Anfield this summer, as Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) continue to build a squad capable of challenging for top honours.

Liverpool has already added Sunderland youngster Jordan Henderson to their ranks and, on Wednesday afternoon, confirmed a deal had been reached to by Charlie Adam.

The Blackpool captain has been on the Liverpool radar for a number of months, but his protracted move to Anfield now appears to be nearing a conclusion.

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce is keen on bringing in struggling Joe Cole on a loan deal from Liverpool as he looks to gain momentum ahead of the new season, according to the Daily Mail.

Cole, 29, has swiftly fallen out-of-favour at Anfield and has struggled to find any form in Kenny Dalglish's side, making 20 appearances and scoring two goals with little impact in his debut campaign after joining from Chelsea.

The Hammers could not afford Cole's £100,000-a-week wages, so would have to come to an arrangement with Liverpool over subsidization of part of the package.

The England international may make way for Liverpool if they can land key transfer target Stewart Downing from Aston Villa, which would push him further down the pecking order.

The deal could work for all parties, with the quality of Cole boosting the Hammers' promotion chances and the player possibly favouring a return to his former club, where he is still idolized by the club's fans.

However, it is not yet clear if he would want to drop down a division as he reaches his peak years and it is believed Cole wants to keep his options open until much later in the summer.

Glen Johnson has today put pen to paper on an extension to his Liverpool contract.

The England international, who has made 70 appearances for the Reds, committed his future to the club by signing the deal at Melwood.

Liverpool FC Director of Football Damien Comolli said: "We are absolutely delighted. We were in talks for a few weeks, but it was easy to find an agreement because he wanted to stay and we wanted him to stay.

"We are very pleased he wants to commit long term, and I think he was pleased we went to him and asked him to commit long term.

"His best years are to come. Very often defenders peak between 26 and 31, so he is just entering into those years where a maturity comes in and his knowledge of the game gets better and better. We are happy his long-term future is at Liverpool."

Johnson joined Liverpool two years ago from Portsmouth and marked his Anfield debut with a spectacular goal in a 4-0 victory over Stoke City in August 2009.

The 26-year-old tallied 35 appearances overall during his first season with the Reds - a figure he matched last term as he showcased his versatility by operating on both the right and left side of defence under Kenny Dalglish.

Comolli added: "It's obvious when you watch him play his technical ability is second to none. Physically he is absolutely fantastic as well and his fitness level is great.

"Towards the end of last season he showed how versatile he is by playing at left-back or right-back - mostly at left-back - and was outstanding.

"For us he is a great asset to have around. As we've always said, we don't want to sell our best players or sell our assets and as long as the players are happy to be here, we're happy to commit to them."

Liverpool has confirmed Andre Wisdom has put pen to paper on an extension to his contract.

The Reds have secured the future of the highly-rated 18-year-old, who figured in the first-team squad last season, after he signed the deal today.

Liverpool's Director of Football Damien Comolli said: "We are delighted. He made fantastic progress last season. He was here at Melwood with the first team for a few weeks to a month towards the end of last season and he did really well in training and was involved with the first team.

"He also did really well with the reserves. He's got great potential and a great future ahead of him.

"Andre is another player who is versatile. He can play, is good on the ball, intelligent and physically very strong. He has all the ingredients to be a top defender."

Wisdom was installed as reserve-team captain for the 2010-11 season after helping England to success in last summer's U17s European Championships.

A knee injury sidelined the powerful defender at the start of the campaign, but he returned in the New Year stronger than ever, earning international honours at U19 level.

Such was his progress, Wisdom was named on the first-team bench twice over the course of last season, including on the final day at Aston Villa, as well as being included in the Europa League squad.

"We have shown for a while that if young players are good enough they will be rewarded," added Comolli.

"I told him when he signed it is just a step. It's an achievement in a way, but he should not just sit on this contract and wait to see what happens - he should show that he is hungry and wants to keep progressing.

"We know he is very young and that his position at centre-half is very difficult to break into in the first team because of the responsibilities of the position, but Andre has all the qualities and skills to get there."

Since returning to the club in January, Kenny Dalglish has displayed a willingness to give younger players first-team opportunities, with the likes of Jack Robinson, John Flanagan, Jay Spearing and Martin Kelly all benefiting from such an approach last season.

Comolli feels this confidence from the manager in Academy graduates serves as a spur for the club's starlets.

He said: "I think it is massive for the young players. They are coming here (to Melwood) with confidence. Kenny has got a way of saying the right thing at the right time to them, boosting their confidence and making sure they're relaxed, whether it's in a game or a training session.

"For players like Andre, he saw what happened last season with Jack Robinson, Jonathan Flanagan and Jay Spearing, so he must be thinking he could be the next one - and that's what we are pushing him to do."

Liverpool has been granted an extension for work on a new 60,000-seater stadium at Stanley Park.

The local authority deadline for the approval of development work expired on June 19, but a council spokesperson has stated that 'sufficient works' have been undertaken by Liverpool since their first approval in 2008.

Over the three-year period, Liverpool have only demolished one street of houses behind the Anfield Road end to allow for an extension, which opens up the possibility of remaining at Anfield and building on their existing stadium instead of moving to Stanley Park, but the council sees this as sufficient.

A council spokesman said they are now waiting on the club to announce a £300,000-a-year lease on the site for a new stadium.

"Work continues on examining both options open to us: refurbishment of Anfield and Stanley Park,” a club spokesman was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

Council leader Joe Anderson added: "I would discourage [Liverpool] from redeveloping Anfield and would encourage them to stick to the commitment that is already in place."

Liverpool council reportedly enforced the June 19 deadline, and refused six and 12-month extensions, before approving a three-month extension until September, although the council deny these allegations, saying: "A condition of the planning decision was that Liverpool had to start work by June 19 but we've accepted they have done sufficient work."